On Saturday, April 4, 2020 from 3 - 7:30 PM ET, the National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA) will offer a FREE virtual conference. Enjoy professional development in your jammies with the beverage of your choice! To participate in any part of the conference you must register by March 31, 2020 Click here to hold your spot!

The Schedule:

• 3:00 - 4:00 PM: Interactive Presentation - GeoHazard:
       Using Simulations to Explore Natural
       Hazards and the Risks They Pose to Human Communities. 
• 4:10 - 5:10 PM: Virtual Share-a-Thon Watch 5 to 10 minute videos from presenters
       ahead of time. Then, ask questions and chat with them in Zoom rooms. 

Do you have a great data or education resource you’d like to present at the Virtual Share-a-thon? Complete this form by Sunday, March 29. 

• 5:20 - 6:20 PM: Interactive Presentation - TBD
• 6:30 - 7:30 PM: Virtual Friends of Earth Science Reception 

At the closing virtual reception NESTA will present awards recognizing excellence in Earth Science teaching. Join us as we honor amazing educators! We will applaud and toast them from our living rooms!

To be recognized at the reception as a NOAA Planet Stewards Educator

and receive a certificate, complete this form.

June 21-25, 2020 and August 23-27, 2020

The Lionfish Invitational is a four-day, research expedition to the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. 11 dive teams work to remove as many lionfish as possible, while recording data on lionfish activity and sightings. In addition, a science team of 8 divers conducts surveys to determine what species, quantities and sizes of fish are present at each designated site before and after the removals.

Applications for these trips are now available for either of the two scheduled expeditions. If you're interested in participating, verify that you meet all of the expedition requirements.

Deadline for applications is Tuesday, March 31, 2020.

Since the 1800's NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey has been measuring land to determine points on the ground and the angles, distances, and heights between. To do this accurately, they have to understand the force of gravity. Listen to Dr. Derek van Westrum, NGS geodesist and physicist, explain what gravity is, why and how it changes, what it means for NOAA, and why you should care!  Give a listen: Understanding Gravity  Listen to all the NOAA Ocean Podcast’s here.

More women than ever today have taken up the work of NOAA. In honor of Women’s History Month, celebrate some of the women who have made important contributions to NOAA, and are building the foundations for great things to come. In Their Own Words: Women Doing NOAA’s Work story map was produced using ARCGIS - by NOAA women of course!  (While you’re at it, check out Making Waves: Notable Women in Ocean Science, too.)

School's out science - Why do we explore the ocean?
Monday, March 30th @ 1pm EST Register here

School's out science - Chemosynthesis, What's That?
Wednesday, April 1st @ 1pm EST, Register here

Get Wild with Youth Climate Summits

Have you heard about Youth Climate Summits? These exciting, conference-style events provide opportunities for students to learn about climate change and design their own climate action plans for their schools and communities. The Wild Center just released a suite of new resources for hosting Youth Climate Summits, including a planning toolkit, an interactive summit map, and more. Check it out at www.wildcenter.org/youthclimate.

Join a virtual gathering and celebration of the Youth Climate Summit network. The Youth Climate Program team is having a virtual unveiling of their new resources! Get an inside look at essential summit elements, hear from other organizers, and ask the questions to jump start your journey towards hosting a successful Summit. Here are the details:

Youth Climate Summits: Join the Movement Webinar - Register Here!

Tuesday, April 7, 2-3 pm ET 

Thursday, April 9,  7-8 pm ET

Have Questions? Contact: Erin Griffin (egriffin@wildcenter.org) 

We all want to do something about climate change, but individual actions can feel inadequate. In this online course, learn what the latest research says about how to scale up your individual actions through social networks and persuading family, friends, colleagues, or social media followers as to how to take action. Be part of a unique online community that is applying innovative, exciting, and evidence-based approaches to fight climate change! Find out more and register here.

If you're sheltering inside, you might as well create! The S.C.R.A.P. Gallery invites students of all ages - and from anywhere around the world - to share their artistic abilities and communicate their environmental cause. Students can create an illustration, photo, drawing, painting or graphic that shows how they will help bring about a better environment. Any materials around the house can be used. It’s your creativeness that counts! As we approach April’s Youth Service Day and the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, join in the fun! To enter, students should email a photo of their artwork and their entry form form here.

The 2020 Ocean Awareness Contest is accepting Visual Art, Film, Music, Poetry, Prose, and Interactive & Multimedia submissions from middle & high school students through June 15, 2020. "Climate Hope: Transforming Crisis" invites teens to learn about climate change and its impact on oceans; discover or imagine solutions at local, national, or global scales; and create work that explores hope in action. For complete details, visit the Ocean Awareness Contest Overview.

Join fellow educators at the first ever Mid-Atlantic Climate Change Education Conference - June 28-30, 2020 at Goucher College in Baltimore MD. The conference will bring together formal and non-formal educators to share and learn about the latest trends in climate change education. The four session tracks for the conference are:

• Environmental Justice & Climate Change
• Climate Change in the Classroom
• Climate Change & Estuaries
• Individual & Community Level Climate Change Solutions

Everyone is welcome - even if you live outside the Mid-Atlantic region! Visit the Conference website to learn more, sign-up to receive the Conference Registration announcement, and be sure to share this announcement with coworkers, colleagues, and friends!

Remember to check the website often to be kept informed of any changes at this uncertain time!

Who: Maryland secondary science teachers

What: Learn three different climate change activities and how they connect to the three dimensions of NGSS

Where: Towson University Center for STEM Excellence (710 E. Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202) 

When: July 14- July 17, 2020 (8:00 am to 3:30 pm daily); November 14, 2020 (9:00 am to 4:00 pm) 

How: More information about Climate Literacy and NGSS and the application are available here

Application deadline: March 31, 2020! Hurry!

Are you looking for cool educational activities that can be done without leaving the house. Here’s a quick roundup of NOAA’s most popular educational resources. Learn about the ocean and atmosphere while you're safely hunkered down in your jammies.

• Check out Data in the Classroom. These interactive, data-based modules explore real world issues using amazing interactive visualizations and video. They are appropriate for middle through high school students.
• Dip your toes into NOAA data with our tiny tutorials or see our entire Data Resources for Educators collection - if you're ready for a deep dive.
• Hold Science On a Sphere in the palm of your hand with the SOS Explorer mobile app.
• Take a (virtual) trip to the central Arctic with  MOSAiC. Hear from scientists on the expedition, create  your own Arctic art, and ]enroll in an Arctic-themed Coursera coursel
• Immerse yourself in a virtual dives in ine of the National Marine Sanctuaries.

And there's much much more online here!.

Marine Biology Anyone? Tune in to the Georgia Aquarium's YouTube for live streamed visits to their watery habitats daily at 12:30 ET. Last Friday, viewers got a peek into the colorful and deeply hypnotic jellyfish tanks. Oh, and there are live piranha feedings at 2 p.m. ET every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. If you're too busy at 12:30 ET, the Florida Aquarium is doing a similar program at 10 a.m. ET.

Astronomy/Space Science – The Kennedy Space Center will have daily Facebook Live presentations for young children at 9:30 a.m. and for teens at 1 p.m. Videos include astronaut-led story times and demonstrations on the science behind space food.

STEM – Cleveland's Great Lakes Science Center is keeping young scientists on their toes with a twice-daily (on weekdays) "Curiosity Corner Live" on YouTube. Kids can follow along as museum staff demo STEM activities like building a tin foil boat (and trying to sink it with pennies) or making billowing clouds with liquid nitrogen and water. The first session is 10:30 a.m., the second is at 3 p.m.; all videos are archived.

Other online digital data science resources include:

• An interactive map that lets users plug in their address to see how it’s changed over the past 750 million years,
• A collection of unsettling sounds from outer space,
• Cambridge University’s Isaac Newton papers,
• Charles Darwin’s manuscripts,
• Hundreds of case files written by a pair of 17th-century astrologers and physicians,
• A map that visualizes all 21 successful moon landings,
• A medical pop-up book dating to the 17th century.

Thank you Smithsonian and all the educators who are adapting to new teaching and learning paradigms and making a difference! 

The North American Marine Environment Protection Assoc. Is providing weekly activities for K-12 students on the marine environment.  To support ocean literacy, NAMPA supplies a weekly lesson plan with built-in activities (30-minute lessons)!  This is supplemented by social media posts on NAMEPA’s Facebook page where they target a specific activity or area of engagement for you to further explore. Please share with all!  Online Survival Series can be accessed here. 

Find content freely available online for teaching and learning at SDG.  Engage students with video lectures and case studies on a range of subjects related to the interdisciplinary field of sustainable development, including public health, economics, policy, climate science, human rights, ethics, early childhood development, and more. Teachers can also encourage their students to enroll in a free SDG Academy MOOC to supplement other online pedagogies. Click here to see a complete list of available courses.